In his testimony today
before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales
was asked by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) to address inaccuracies
in his 2006 testimony in relation to the Bush administration’s
warrantless wiretapping program. “There has not been any serious
disagreement about the program that the president has confirmed,”
Gonzales said at the time.

Today, Gonzales said Comey was referring to “other intelligence
activities,” appearing to confirm that the Bush administration
is operating more than one warrantless domestic spying program. In a
heated back and forth with Specter, Gonzales stated:

The disagreement that occurred was about other intelligence
activities and the reason for the visit to the hospital was about
other intelligence activities. It was not about the terrorist surveillance
program that the president announced to the American people.

Today’s testimony contradicts what Gonzales had said previously.
In June, Gonzales claimed that both he and Comey were referring to the
same domestic spying program.
“Mr. Comey’s testimony related to a highly classified program
which the president confirmed
to the American people sometime ago,” he said.

SPECTER: Let me move quickly through a series of questions there’s
a lot to cover. Starting with the issue Mr. Comey raises, you said
“there has not been any disagreement about the program.”
Mr. Comey’s testimony was that “Mrs. Gonzales began to
discuss why they were there to seek approval” and he then says
“I was very upset, I was angry, I thought I had just witnessed
an effort to take advantage of a very sick man.”

GONZALES: The disagreement that occurred was about other intelligence
activities and the reason for the visit to the hospital was about
other intelligence activities. It was not about the terrorist surveillance
program that the president announced to the american people.